CAMBRIDGE, Mass. – At the 2018 Beanpot Fencing tournament tonight, the Brandeis men's team finished in second place with wins over Boston College and MIT, while the women placed third with a win over host MIT.
On the men's side, both Brandeis wins came by 17-10 scores. The Judges swept all three weapons against MIT in their opening match, winning foil, 7-2, and saber and epee by 5-4 scores. Against Boston College, saber led the way with a 7-2 win, while foil posted a 6-3 mark and the epee crew were edged, 5-4. Against top-ranked Harvard, all three weapons dropped 7-2 scores for a 21-6 overall defeat.
Four different Judges picked up five wins on the evening – seniors Elishua Litle (Haifa, Israel / Reali Beit Beram) and Guillermo Narvaez (Metepec, Mexico/Technologico de Monterrey) in the foil; sophomore Leon Rotenstein (Ashland, Mass./Ashland) in the saber and senior Hunter Stusnick (New Vernon, N.J. / Chatham) in the epee.
On the women's side, Brandeis defeated MIT in the opening match in the most dramatic showdown of the evening, with the Judges taking a 14-13 win in which all four weapons were decided by a 5-4 score. Brandeis took foil and epee, while MIT took saber. Against BC, the Eagles took an 18-9 decision despite a 6-3 win by the epee squad. Sixth-ranked Harvard wound up with a 20-7 victory, sweeping all three weapons, with the closest match a 5-4 decision in saber for the short-handed Crimson.
Senior Liz Feller (Cortlandt Manor, N.Y./Hendrick Hudson) continued her fine senior season, going 7-2 overall, including 3-0 marks against BC and MIT. Rookie Madeleine Vibert (Las Vegas, Nev. / West Career and Tech. Academy) earned four wins on the day for epee, with the two winning the last two bouts against MIT to earn the squad win. Vibert's win was 5-4 for the fourth point, while Feller's was the clincher against the Engineers with a 5-2 win. Senior saber fencer Laura Broffman (East Norwich, N.Y. / Oyster Bay) went 5-3 on the night, including a 3-0 mark against MIT. Junior Joanne Carminucci (Brewster, N.Y./North Salem) led the foil squad with four wins.
The Judges return to action on Saturday, Feb. 24th with the New England Intercollegiate Fencing Championships at Mount Holyoke.